Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (9 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
To Solomon, banishing anxiety was an act of the will. The Buddhist action of renouncing all worldly desires is similar: You take each thing that you were desiring or worrying about and choose to treat it as not worth seeking in any way. Next, Buddha, as a radical existentialist, severs all human and “celestial” ties, both now and in the worlds to come (during future reincarnations). The fourth step, renunciation of every kind of desire, is a radical departure from
Judaism and Solomon’s views and practices. And it is a critical part of Buddha’s path to liberation.
At the very end of the Dhammapada are Buddha’s sayings about the many requirements for becoming a “Brahman,” one who is approaching enlightenment. Many of these focus on the renunciation of all desire. They are an extreme, radical application of the root idea present in Solomon’s citations:
Him I call indeed a Brahmana who fosters no desires for this world or for the next, has no inclinations, and is unshackled.
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Him I call indeed a Brahmana who has no interests, and when he has understood (the truth), does not say How, how? and who has reached the depth of the Immortal.
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Him I call indeed a Brahmana who in this world is above good and evil, above the bondage of both, free from grief from sin, and from impurity.
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Him I call indeed a Brahmana who is bright like the moon, pure, serene, undisturbed, and in whom all gaiety is extinct.
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Him I call indeed a Brahmana who has traversed this miry road, the impassable world and its vanity, who has gone through, and reached the other shore, is thoughtful, guileless, free from doubts, free from attachment, and content.
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Some of his Brahman proverbs portray the extreme to which Buddha went in pursuing renunciation:
The notion that renunciation, right living and being are keys to escaping from the consequences of desiring (cited above) is implicit in Proverbs 21:25–26:
The desire of the lazy [slothful] man kills him, For his hands refuse to labor. He covets greedily all day long, But the righteous gives and does not spare.
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When “the righteous” person “gives and does not spare,” he or she is engaging in an act of renunciation. The implication of the contrast to the lazy man, who dies, is that the opposite type of person (“the righteous”) will live.
The root idea, that renunciation of desires is key to being liberated from suffering, is clearly present in the above excerpts. Buddha sounded a similar theme in the following proverb:
If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure, let a wise man leave the small pleasure, and look to the great.
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This idea is also implicit in the next two proverbs of Solomon:
In the first verse, peace is presumably achieved by renouncing claims to whatever you have been seeking. The alternative is tenaciously desiring something someone else has, which “rots the bones.” In other words, envy is bad for one’s health. The second verse implies that one is better off with less if striving after more is causing stress.
Fourth Noble Truth: The Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering Is the Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path consists of a series of right perspectives, intentions, and actions that Buddhists believe will enable them to
approach enlightenment and an end to all suffering. To the follower of Solomon, the dedicated practice of the set of commands about right intentions and actions that make up “wisdom” will free them from the pitfalls and snares of this life and reward them in important ways. While Solomon did not argue that all earthly desires should be eliminated, he did clearly indicate that a righteous person’s determination to obtain wisdom should far exceed all other desires:
Take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold. For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her.
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As we will next see in the next five chapters, the steps of the righteous person that Solomon advocated are virtually identical to those espoused by Buddha. The dedication that Solomon advised in following his path was substantial, though not as radical as Buddha advocated. Solomon said:
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
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How might someone write a set of commands “on the tablet” of his or her heart? Would it not be through memorization and meditation? Since meditation was a well-known practice in Judaism during Solomon’s life (as detailed at the end of
Chapter Eight
), this would naturally be a reference to such practices.
In a parallel way, Buddha gave this teaching:
And what, monks, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, monks, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, and leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.
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Buddha also offered this proverb:
Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus, with thy hand! Cherish the road of peace. Nirvana has been shown by Sugata (Buddha).
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The Three Jewels
The core of Buddhism is summarized in the following proverbs of Buddha:
He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, and the Church; he who, with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths:—
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Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the eightfold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain;—
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That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge; having gone to that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain.
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The 190th proverb in the Dhammapada presents the Three Jewels of Buddhism. Each of these Jewels has a distinct counterpart in orthodox as well as secular Judaism.
The Three Jewels of Buddhism | Parallels in Orthodox Judaism | Parallels in Secular Judaism |
| ||
Buddha | Moses | Solomon |
The Dhamma (Buddha’s writings) | The Torah (Moses’ writings) | Proverbs and Ecclesiastes |
Community of monks (sangha) | The Levites (priests) | Jewish philosophers |
As we saw in the first two chapters, it is quite possible that Buddha was well aware of both of these parallel systems within Judaism. In
developing his Three Jewels, he may have been inspired by what he believed was the best of each segment of Judaism in designing his new religion. Buddhism would be secular, and yet his followers would be much more attached to him than secular Jews were to Solomon. Moreover, Solomon’s followers were not organized into a religious order, whereas in the law of Moses there was a priestly class, the Levites who served at the temple. Buddhist monks find a parallel in the Levitical priests rather than in the ordinary Jews who considered themselves students of Solomon’s wisdom in secular Judaism. Buddha collected many proverbs (423 in the Dhammapada), much like Solomon’s, intended for the average person, but there would also be many laws addressed specifically to the monks and nuns who had given up everything to follow him. There are 227 laws for monks
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and 311 for nuns. Likewise, a portion of the 613 laws of Moses presented in the Torah prescribe Levitical duties and the operation of temple sacrifices.
What is strikingly different between Buddhism and Solomonic thought is Buddha’s radical commitment to renouncing the pleasures and possessions of this world, both wholesome and otherwise.
Precursors to Buddha’s Right View and Intention
The eight steps of the Noble Path seem to come in pairs, so we will review them that way in successive chapters:
- Right View and Intention (
Chapter Four
) - Right Speech and Action (
Chapter Five
) - Right Livelihood and Effort (
Chapter Six
) - Right Mindfulness and Concentration (
Chapters Seven
and
Eight
)